Ubuntu / Linux news and application reviews.

Google Chrome got web apps a few days ago, which initially only worked for Windows - but starting today they're available for Linux too. These are basically just pinned tabs but with a bigger (and .png instead of .ico) favicon which looks cool but doesn't do anything extra from what I can tell after testing it for about 10 minutes or so.

The 3 default web apps only come in the latest Google Chrome dev channel, but you can use them in Chromium too (from the Chromium daily ppa), as long as you have Google Chrome installed. Also, you can use some extra Chrome web apps (link at the end of the post) in Chromium without installing Google Chrome.

Once you install Chrome/Chromium, customize its shortcut by adding "--enable-apps" and alternatively also add "--apps-panel" for a floating panel (but this doesn't seem to work for Linux yet).

Then, in Chromme/ium type "chrome://extensions", enable the developer mode by pressing the "+" sign next to "Developer mode" in the right:

Then a new button called "Load unpacked extension" should be available - click it and browse for "/opt/google/chrome/resources/" and choose from the 3 available web apps (no, not the ones in the screenshot but Gmail, Google Docs and Google Calendar) - these are only available if you installed Google Chrome. For more Web Apps, you'll find a huge list on Downloadsquad.

You should then be able to access the Chrome Web Apps by opening a new blank tab: